The Straight Razor Acquisition Thread

CASE BROS.
"Tested"
Little Valley NY
6/8th. Full Hollow.
Aluminum Handle.

I got lucky with this one. The seller marked it as an unknown maker, but in the photos, a couple of letters that I could make out told me all I needed to know.

 

My Beautiful NOS Factory Fresh Dorko Solingen 7/8th Arrived from Germany Today..I Got a Replacement as the 1st One He Sent Had a Micro Crack on the Blade..Cant Wait to Get Her on the Hones & Shave with it..



Billy..

 

Well..I Done 80 Sets on the Naniwa 1 K Bevel Hone with the New Dorko..Here is What I Saw Under the Lens..Another Cracked Blade..So He is Gonna Send Me Another Model as this Must be a Bad Batch of these Models..So I Asked Him to Send Me One of these Models Above..He is a Good Seller..Just Bad Luck is All..He Has Corresponded Well with Me..A True German Gentleman by All Accounts..

Billy..

 

Beautiful blade Billy, it is a shame about the crack. I wonder what’s causing them?

 

Well Steve..I Reckon the Same as the Seller.They Look Like a Bad Batch..That is to Say..Factory Grinding/Tempering Issues..The Bizarre Issue is that Both Blades he Sent Me were Cracked in the Same Place..Almost Identical Cracks as Well..Go Figure..

I Also Noticed the 1st One he Sent Me that it Was Not Shaving Arm Hair from the Naniwa 1 K Bevel Hone Either..Now that is Strange for Me..I Didn't Bother Doing More than the Initial Sets with the 2nd One as the Crack was Getting Worse I Reckon..I Was Not Using a Lot of Pressure Neither..

Tempering/Grinding Issues Happen with the Best of Production Makers..It has Pissed Me Off But the Seller is Doing So Much to Help..

Billy..

 

Well you can’t ask for more from the seller. Beautiful RSOs though.

 

Exactly four years ago today I came in second in an eBay auction that has haunted me ever since. I had just started with straights and part of the private collection of razors of the Ragg family were being auctioned off. Well, my heart skipped a beat when I saw this one, without a doubt the sexiest razor I’d ever seen. Not only that but NOS from 1825. I put in a high max bid (for me anyhow.) It was a near miss. Being new I assumed I’d see another like it sometime.

But no, I never saw another one that stopped me in my tracks like that one and it has haunted me ever since.

In early February I decided to go looking for it and, lo and behold, I found it. I did everything to find the owner to see if he wanted to sell it or trade. I contacted the original eBay seller, no dice. I left PMs on boards he had posted to, no dice. I used the internet to find possible email addresses and sent emails, no dice. I found an old address on the internet, no dice.

And then earlier this week I got an email from him. He’d been off the boards for a while and found my original PM. Holy schmoley, he was interested in a trade and today he sent my white whale off to me.

Here are some photos:






I’m totally stoked

 

That is a great story of persistence - pretty cool to have this opportunity. Congrats!

 

Congratulations on acquiring a gorgeous razor, Karl.

 

That is an absolutely gorgeous razor.

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That’s a beauty Karl! Congrats on a fine razor.

 

Some beautiful blades you guys have been rounding up.

 

@Karl G
Great catch!!!


The gallery is gourgeous.
https://www.pinterest.it/margotlauren66/razors/

 

Great score! That’s a beauty!

 

Just beautiful, Karl!

 

Thank you all! But the story just got better. Before sending off the razors I was trading I asked about a bigger trade - we had considered one before but couldn’t get the values to approximate. This time he threw in a fine S.R. Droescher water stone and we struck a deal.

So, in addition to the above Ragg (my “White Whale” - think Captain Ahab chasing Moby Dick), he’s sending me another near mint Ragg from that same auction, an unused 80000 Kanayama strop, and the Droescher stone. Here is the rest of the trade:

The middle razor is now part of the trade - the top one is the “White Whale” and already on it’s way


Just the Kanayama on the left


...and the stone...

So, two beauties in ivory, and a fine stone and strop to keep them up to snuff.

A few tips of the hat - first to @twhite who alerted me to a deal on a pristine Sun Ray set that I got some years ago and that became part of the trade, to @Steve56 for nudging me to try a hanging strop by sourcing some roo leather and wonderful linen - and for promoting the virtues of a Kanayama, and to both @Steve56 and @Billyfergie for opining on the stone.

 

This is On its Way from a Trusted Swedish Seller..A Shave Ready NOS Minty Otto Busch Solingen 6/8th..Its a Silver Sheffield Steel Kyser Ellison & Co Blade..Got it For a Real Good Buy it Now Price..Its Been Honed On a Naniwa Super Stone Progression to 10 K..I Will Put a Natural Edge on it..Probably an Escher Thuringian 17 K or Maybe Even a Fine Coticule..

Choices, Choices of Edges..

Billy.

 

I’m almost embarrassed to post this Wade & Butcher acquisition after the beautiful, NOS, immaculate razors you’ve all been posting. The blade is stained has rust damage near the left side shoulder, and has some chipping on the edge which may account for the low price. The seller didn’t know the blade width, but it looks like a 6/8 or possibly 7/8. Seller was an antique dealer who didn’t know anything about razors. I’d be very interested in your candid thoughts. I didn’t spend much for it, so no worries about being honest. I’ve only been straight shaving for about 6 mos. I hope to learn from your feedback. I’ll be sending this out to Glen for a restoration, unless you tell me not to bother, after the great job he did on my old Boker.